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WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 371, October 7, 2002
SERBIA: GOVERNMENT SEEKS MEDIA MONOPOLY. Serbian authorities block media
reforms to keep down independent TV station and prop up former Milosevic
mouthpieces that now support them. Milanka Saponja Hadzic reports from
Belgrade.
MONTENEGRO: DJUKANOVIC AGREES COURT COMPROMISE. Elections to go ahead
after president caves in to opposition demands over composition of key
judicial institution. Milka Tadic Mijovic reports from Podgorica.
ROMANIA: PROGRESS IN THE PIPELINE. Bucharest, Belgrade and Zagreb sign up
to the construction of an oil pipeline linking the Black Sea to Western
Europe. Marian Chiriac reports from Bucharest.
MACEDONIA: PRESS DEMAND END TO BEATINGS. Attack on radio station chief
provokes outrage over years' of politically motivated violence against the
media. Zoran Bojarovski reports from Skopje.
COMMENT: KOSOVO SERB DESPAIR. The Serbian extremist's electoral success
here reflects local Serbs' increasingly desperate plight. Father Sava
Janjic reports from Decani.
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SERBIA: GOVERNMENT SEEKS MEDIA MONOPOLY
Serbian authorities block media reforms to keep down independent TV
station and prop up former Milosevic mouthpieces that now support them.
By Milanka Saponja Hadzic in Belgrade
Press groups close to Serbia's prime minister Zoran Djindjic have been
attacking the country's leading independent radio and television station
as part of a government drive to retain the virtual media monopoly it
inherited from the Milosevic regime.
The attacks began in mid-September, when the pro-government private
television stations BK and Pink used prime time news slots to accuse Radio
Television B92 bosses of privatising the company without the employees'
knowledge and to their disadvantage.
Belgrade media last week received unsigned letters allegedly written by
anonymous B92 employees accusing their bosses of abusing the company's
privatisation process. BK and Pink, the two largest private broadcasters
in Serbia, which were once very close to the Milosevic regime, quoted
these accusations in their leading news broadcasts.
In the latest salvo against the station on October 4, hundreds of posters
appeared overnight in Belgrade with the picture of Matic and the logo of
B92. Underneath it was written "Caught Stealing".
B92 editor Veran Matic dismissed the claims, and IWPR has seen a copy of
the minutes of a station staff meeting, in which it's clear that most
employees agreed with the method of privatisation proposed by the
management.
Matic charged the authorities with attempting to block B92's from having
national coverage. Under American pressure, the authorities agreed two
months ago to allocate the station temporary frequencies, enabling its
television arm to cover 55 per cent of Serbian territory.
Media analysts believe the government is fighting to retain as much of the
press monopoly it inherited from Milosevic as it can, with independent
media such as B92 seen threatening this goal.
At home and abroad, the station is widely regarded as a symbol of
democracy and independence, and was repeatedly closed and banned by the
former regime.
TV Pink and BK Television, owned by owned by Zeljko Mitrovic and Bogoljub
Karic respectively, meanwhile acted as mouthpieces for Milosevic, only to
switch sides as soon as he was ousted.
The two stations are most important to the Serbian authorities as they
reach audiences well beyond Belgrade. Between them, their broadcasts
cover 90 per cent of Yugoslav territory, netting huge profits from
advertising.
The Serbian government, in an attempt to preserve its media monopoly, is
dragging its feet over implementing some press reforms, including TV
frequency regulations and a system of public inspection. Many believe the
former was only adopted because it was a precondition for Yugoslavia's
accession to the Council of Europe.
As a consequence, the media that once served Milosevic have kept their
privileged positions and their national frequencies, while the stations
that fought hardest for democratic change are deliberately confined to a
limited viewing audience.
Matic said the situation was ironic, "The media that are an authentic part
of the democratic changes in this country and a symbol of independent
journalism are still being discriminated against because they don't have
radio and television frequencies."
In a separate development, the new authorities have done nothing to put a
stop to a wave of legal cases against reporters who fought against the
wars of the 1990s, the politics of hatred and are now campaigning for
professional journalistic standards.
Some 300 such cases are currently going through the courts, with many of
the reporters being sued by the former regime's associates and members of
the ruling coalition.
This month, for example, an official in Djindjic's Democratic Party,
Radoslav Ljubisavljevic, charged B92 with libel after the station reported
that he had been handed a two-year suspended sentence in 1994 for forgery
and abuse of power.
Ljubisavljevic did not dispute the report's facts, but sued B92 for
"mental anguish". "What really hurts Ljubisavljevic is the truth", the
Association of Independent Electronic Media commented.
Milka Saponja Hadzic is a freelance journalist in Serbia
MONTENEGRO: DJUKANOVIC AGREES COURT COMPROMISE
Elections to go ahead after president caves in to opposition demands over
composition of key judicial institution.
By Milka Tadic Mijovic in Podgorica
Montenegro's parliament removed the last remaining obstacle preventing
parliamentary elections on October 20 by approving a new panel of judges
for the republic's constitutional court.
The move was needed for the poll to take place after disputes flared
between government and opposition over constitutional court appointments.
After the disagreement had rumbled on throughout the summer, the
authorities and the opposition hatched a deal in early September through
the mediation of the OSCE and the US ambassador William Montgomery.
In a significant triumph for the opposition, President Milo Djukanovic
agreed to appoint two judges put forward by the opposition to the court.
The result is that the government no longer controls this key institution.
The president's pro-independence coalition lost its majority in parliament
after its former Liberal Alliance, LS, partners withdrew support in
protest against Djukanovic's signature to the Belgrade Agreement on March
14.
This arrangement, reached under heavy pressure from the European Union,
guaranteed the preservation of the union of Serbia and Montenegro for at
least three years. Only then may a referendum on independence be held.
After the pro-independence LS formed an unlikely alliance with the
opposition coalition Together for Yugoslavia in mid-July, Djukanovic had
no option but to call early parliamentary elections.
However, the new anti-government parliamentary majority refused in
mid-August to approve the panel of constitutional court judges proposed by
Djukanovic. "We cannot vote... without prior consultation," Dragan Soc,
leader of one of the pro-Yugoslav parties said.
The judges' term expired on August 28. And until last Wednesday,
Montenegro remained practically without a constitutional court, sparking
fears of judicial and political chaos.
A parliamentary ballot scheduled for the fifth of the month had to be
postponed until October 20, since the court guarantees the legitimacy of
the election process and issues rulings on disputes occasioned by
complaints from poll participants. At one stage, the opposition
threatened to boycott the poll altogether, heightening the air of
political crisis.
At the last moment, on September 25, President Djukanovic proposed four
candidates to parliament, just as the deadline for registering them was
about to expire. They were judges Radoje Korac, Veselin Rackovic, Zoran
Smolovic and Radovan Krivokapic.
The opposition backed this list, as Djukanovic had made two significant
concessions. Firstly, he approved of two candidates, Rackovic and
Smolovic, put forward by the opposition Socialist People's Party, SNP -
the main player in the Together for Yugoslavia coalition. And secondly,
he agreed to meet pro-Yugoslav parties' demands for four rather than the
five judges required by the constitution, which the latter wanted to
ensure that they were equally represented.
The concessions prompted lawyers to warn that an even number of
government- and opposition-appointed judges may lead to a state of
deadlock in the court. "It may happen that two judges vote for one
solution while the other two are against it. That could jeopardise
constitutional order and lead to stalemate," said Blagota Mitric, the
court's former president.
The newly appointed court president, Radoje Korac, admitted that stalemate
might occur owing to the even number of judges, but insisted the new
appointees would resist political pressure.
"I will work according to my conscience, knowledge and abilities. I am
not a member of any party and can guarantee pressure will not influence
me. I believe other members of the constitutional court will be guided by
the same principles," Korac said.
The forthcoming elections may well test this resolve. If the judges are
to make decisions according to political dictates, not according to laws,
on complaints by political parties after the election, Montenegro could
find itself in dangerous waters.
Fortunately, though, the elections will take place under close
international scrutiny. Without the latter's mediation, numerous previous
disputes between the authorities and the opposition would not have been
solved.
Milka Tadic Mijovic is editor-in-chief of Monitor magazine from Podgorica
ROMANIA: PROGRESS IN THE PIPELINE
Bucharest, Belgrade and Zagreb sign up to the construction of an oil
pipeline linking the Black Sea to Western Europe.
By Marian Chiriac in Bucharest
A new oil pipeline linking Romania, Yugoslavia and Croatia could boost the
Balkan nations' battered economies by opening up lucrative trade routes
from Central Asia to Western Europe.
The three states signed an agreement on the 1,200 km long pipeline - which
is to run from Constanta in Romania to the Adriatic oil terminal near
Omisalj, Croatia - in Bucharest on September 10. The contract is to be
finalised in November, according to Serbian officials.
Work on the project could start next year and, once completed, it is
expected to reduce western dependence on Gulf exporters and Russian
pipelines.
There is also potential for the Constanta-Omisalj pipeline - which would
have a capacity of 10 million tonnes of oil per year - to be extended to
Trieste in Italy and beyond.
"The project is one of the most important of its kind in Europe and may
attract financing from the European Union and many important banks and oil
companies," Romanian industry minister Dan Popescu told IWPR.
Analysts agree the pipeline could improve economic development and
international trade in the Balkans, which is making a slow recovery from
years of ethnic conflict and corruption.
"The project's chief selling point is that it will provide access to
Balkan markets, which are now beginning their economic revival," said Dana
Armean of the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit.
Financing remains a problem, as construction is expected to cost around
one billion US dollars, even though some two-thirds of it will be made up
of existing pipelines.
The Serbian section will be the most problematic part of the scheme and is
expected to consume around 80 per cent of the construction budget.
Bucharest officials, however, are confident their section will not be hard
to finance. "The 400 km-long construction on Romanian territory benefits
from easily accessible terrain. This should result in lower costs and may
attract potential investors," said Popescu.
The United States is a key supporter of the project. Washington officials
said recently they are prepared to provide 200,000 dollars to fund a study
into pipeline routes, and to support the scheme as one of several aimed at
enhancing economic cooperation with the Balkan states.
Money is also expected from Interstate Oil and Gas Transport to Europe,
INOGATE, a ten-country project funded by the EU and aimed at developing a
pipeline network stretching from Central Asia to Europe. Balkan countries
have enjoyed limited benefits from this project to date, despite their
strategic position along the east-west corridor.
All countries along the pipeline hope that the project will inject new
life into their shattered economies. "The biggest winner will probably be
Croatia, which has two refineries in Omisalj and great potential for
access to Western Europe," Armean said, pointing out that the latter are
linked by pipeline to Yugoslavia to the south and Hungary and Austria to
the north.
The pipeline may also play a key role in building Balkan security, as the
foreign investment it's expected to attract could strengthen stability and
regional relations.
Some analysts, however, are cautious over the scheme's potential impact on
the area. "The project is probably too small, compared to the scale of
others, and it would be an exaggeration to conclude that somehow it could
lead to intense international interest in the Balkans," Armean said.
Marian Chiriac is a Bucharest-based journalist
MACEDONIA: PRESS DEMAND END TO BEATINGS
Attack on radio station chief provokes outrage over years' of politically
motivated violence against the media.
By Zoran Bojarovski in Skopje
More than 500 Macedonian journalists - blowing whistles and wearing
T-shirts proclaiming "Here we are, beat us!" - paraded outside the
interior ministry in Skopje last week to protest over political
intimidation of the media.
The September 30 demo came in response to some 40 cases of violence
against journalists - by police and criminals working for politicians -
over the past three years. What finally sparked their rage was the savage
beating of Zoran Bozinovski, editor-in-chief of Radio Tumba in Kumanovo, a
town 30 km north of Skopje, the previous week.
Three heavily disguised men armed with guns, metal bars and baseball bats
forced their way into the station on September 25 while Bozinovski and
another journalist were hosting a live programme. They started hitting
the former over the head with a gun butt and dragged the latter out of the
studio with a pistol pointed at his face.
Bozinovski was rushed to hospital with concussion, three broken fingers,
serious facial injuries and a cracked bone in one arm.
"Their leader wore a hat jammed low over his faced but I recognised him,
"Bozinovski later told IWPR. "It was Goran Trajkovski - Tajto, a member
of the Lions police unit. I dragged one of the men down to the floor and
tried to protect myself from the blows."
The Lions are a paramilitary police unit set up by the former ruling
VMRO-DPMNE, and appears to be continuing to act on behalf of the party
despite its defeat in the September 15 election. "They attacked us
because we carried stories about (alleged) corruption and criminal
activity by VMRO-DPMNE local authorities," Bozinovski said.
A storm of protest from the public, journalists' associations and
international orgnisations, including the OSCE and NATO, led to the arrest
of Tajto on September 27. An investigating judge in Kumanovo charged the
suspect - who claimed he was on guard duty at a police barracks close to
Skopje at the time of the attack - with criminal wounding and remanded him
in custody for 30 days.
Saso Colakovski, secretary general of the Journalists Association of
Macedonia, said the Bozinovski incident prompted last week's
demonstration, "The attack against our colleague finally snapped our
patience and we call on the authorities to stop this ugly, dangerous
practice."
Robert Popovski, a member of the association's executive board, said, "We
will keep protesting until we receive adequate protection. The authorities
must leave the journalists to do their job. This protest proves that
there are now journalists here who are prepared to stand up to protect
their colleagues."
The list of attacks against the press is long. Journalists beaten by
police include Branko Gerovski, Marjan Gurovski, Nikolce Mladenov, Atanas
Sokolovski, Fatos Musliu, Spase Suplinovski, Sonja Kaziovska, Mare
Stoilova, Simon Ilievski, and Nina Kepevska. Snezana Lupevska was
kidnapped by Albanian rebels.
Thugs, many of them thought to be working for politicians, have broken
into the offices of A1 TV in Skopje, TV Vis in Strumica, Radio Kanal 77 in
Stip, TV 21 in Veles, TV Era in Skopje and TV Kiss in Tetovo, destroying
equipment and issuing threats.
Crimes against ethnic Albanian journalists usually go unreported. Lirim
Dulovi, deputy editor of the Albanian language daily Fakti, told IWPR that
Macedonian language media usually ignore them.
"The worst attack was when a police armoured car fired a machine gun at
the Fakti office in Tetovo in April 2001. Journalists were in the room,
but fortunately nobody was hurt," he said. "Fakti reporters have also been
arrested for no reason and brought in for questioning."
In addition to violence, both Macedonian and ethnic Albanian journalists
face pressure from politicians representing their communities. The latter
say the sort of coercion they experienced from Albanians who served in the
ruling coalition with VMRO-DPMNE is worse than anything their Macedonian
colleagues have endured.
Iso Rusi, editor-in-chief of the Albanian language weekly magazine Lobi in
Skopje, cited the case in which Fakti's editor-in-chief refused to print a
statement by the politically powerful Menduh Thaci - a senior official in
the former government party the Democatic Party of Albanians - because of
his harsh criticism of Muslim clergy. Rusi said Thaci "lost his mind" and
ordered the information ministry to drastically cut state funds for Fakti.
Zoran Bojarovski is deputy editor of the Skopje magazine Fakti.
COMMENT: KOSOVO SERB DESPAIR
The Serbian extremist's electoral success here reflects local Serbs'
increasingly desperate plight.
By Father Sava Jannjic in Decani
Overwhelming Kosovo Serb support for ultra-nationalist Vojislav Sesejl in
the recent Serbian presidential elections is more an indication of their
desperation than of backing for his retrograde policies. The confidence
the majority of them entrusted in the Radical Party leader points to the
need for greater understanding of the Serb community in the
UN-administered province.
In his election campaign, Seselj failed to come up with a concrete
programme for Serbia's economic and political problems nor propose a
strategy for tackling the difficulties facing the Kosovo Serbs.
Why then did Seselj win the majority of Kosovo Serb votes? Before one can
answer such a question, it is important to understand that the
participation of Serb voters was lower than expected and that if all of
them had taken part the results would have been less discouraging.
Despite this, it is not hard to believe that even if this had been the
case, Seselj would still have gained more Kosovo Serb voters than the two
democratically-oriented presidential candidates, Vojislav Kostunica and
Miroljub Labus.
The number of votes won by the Radical party chief, well known for his
brand of extreme nationalism that has no basis in Orthodox religious
tradition - but is rather the product of an atheistic consciousness - does
not prove Kosovo Serbs have given their support for the so-called Greater
Serbia project. Nor does it show they want war, as many Albanian
commentators have gleefully concluded.
It more accurately reflects a mood of deep disillusionment with the
policies that the international community, Belgrade and the ethnic
Albanians are implementing in Kosovo. The votes that went to Seselj are
first and foremost an expression of bitterness and disappointment in the
UNMIK administration, which in three years has not managed to create even
the minimum conditions for the free and dignified life of the
non-Albanian, primarily Serb, population.
Even those Serbs who at first expressed confidence in the efforts of the
international community to create a multi-ethnic society gradually began
to lean towards harsher and less compromising positions. The
responsibility for this lies primarily with western officials, which,
instead of establishing law and order, permitted uncontrolled violence and
repression of the Serbs.
Rendered lethargic by bureaucracy and by fear of conflicts with Albanian
extremists, it has hypocritically ignored the problems of the Serb
community, insisting its mission be declared a success before the basic
tenets of a democratic and free society are established.
But the Kosovo Serbs are also dissatisfied with Belgrade's policies.
Since the change of regime in October 2000 and the departure of Slobodan
Milosevic to The Hague, the Serbian leadership has failed to produce a
concrete strategy that might address the problems facing the Kosovo
Serbs - namely the international community's failure to return displaced
Serbs to the region and provide adequate security for those living there.
Finally, the Serbs are disappointed with the local Albanian leaders. In
all honesty, they could not expect much from them, considering they mostly
graduated to their ministerial portfolios and seats in parliament from the
ranks of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, whose leaders were responsible
for numerous war crimes not only against Serbs but also Albanians who
disagreed with the policy of an ethnically pure Kosovo.
Three years after the end of the war and the arrival of the UNMIK mission
and KFOR, the Kosovo Albanians have not managed to present a vision of a
democratic society to be enjoyed by all citizens regardless of their
ethnicity.
Even the newly-elected provincial president, Ibrahim Rugova, whom the West
considers a moderate, behaves as though the Serbs in Kosovo do not exist.
The primary reason why the Kosovo Serbs decided to participate in the
Serbian presidential elections was to demonstrate that they do not
consider the protectorate's president and the transitional government in
Pristina their legitimate representatives.
Taking these facts into consideration, it is hardly surprising that most
of the minority gave their votes to Seselj. He has consistently claimed
that the international community and the Kosovo Albanians, with Belgrade's
silent acquiescence, will relegate them to the rubbish heap of history.
In order for the Serb electoral body in the province to reconsider more
democratic options, it is necessary first and foremost to change the
attitude of Belgrade, Pristina and international community towards the
minority.
A just and balanced policy, which will approach the Kosovo problem
objectively and speedily, is the only way of winning over the local Serbs.
Only this will open the door to moderate political forces among the
latter, isolating extremist, nationalist forces, and creating the basic
preconditions for the political and economic stabilisation of the
province.
Father Sava Janjic serves in the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and
Prizren.
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Editor-in-Chief: Anthony Borden, Managing Editor: Yigal Chazan, Associate
Editor: Gordana Igric, Assistant Editor: Dragana Nikolic, Kosovo Project
Manager: Nehat Islami. Translation: Alban Mitrushi and others.
The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is a London-based
independent non-profit organisation supporting regional media and
democratic change.
Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH, United Kingdom.
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The opinions expressed in Balkan Crisis Report are those of the authors
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Copyright (c) 2002 The Institute for War & Peace Reporting
BALKAN CRISIS REPORT No. 372
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